FI15188
Request
- Who instructed the destruction of the 26 large information panels in the Painted House which gave detailed information on our work in Dover over many years?
- Who sanctioned the forcing open of our four large locked metal cabinets in the basement and the removal of our property therein, totally without our knowledge or consent, when it was certain we held the keys?
- Who sanctioned the forcing open of our very strong metal security cabinet and then removed about 4,000 Roman coins, gemstones and other valuable items, also totally without our knowledge or consent, when again it was certainly known that we held the keys. Where are the contents now?
- Who removed all our excavation and maintenance tools, equipment, records, artefacts, mowers and obvious personal items, again without our knowledge or consent and retained them? Where are they now?
- Who removed all the panels listing the national awards which KARU won, the panel showing the Queen Mothers visit with two founding trustees and all the memorial plaques, clearly never returned as a recent visit has proved, even though all are a very important part of the history of the Monument? Where are they now?
- Who put up a small panel, relegated to the PH basement, that stated I directed the Dover excavations for just 1970-77, when it is very widely known that my excavations were carried out in Central Dover non-stop for over 40 years and that our research and publications programmes will continue until at least 2026 ? Certainly the DDC Museum Curator would have known all this.
- Is all this a deliberate attempt to air-brush out the massive contribution by the KARU over so many decades? If so, what would be the motives of those involved?
Response
Requests under the Freedom of Information Act are for recorded or documented information. In respect of questions 1 to 6, I can confirm that the Council does not hold this information as this has not been recorded or documented. All work undertaken at the Roman Painted House has been undertaken at the direction of the Leader and Cabinet.
Your final question is not a request for recorded or documented information and instead seeks an opinion. The Council does not hold this information.
Internal Review Documents
Request:
None of what you report is acceptable and clearly evasive. Very clearly the Leader and Cabinet may have given over approval to proceed with updating the RPH it is quite impossible for either to have selected particular items for destruction (certainly carried out), disposal (seen), retention (evidence from emails) or usage. Very clearly, these decisions were taken by an individual on the site at the time and quite impossible for the Leader and Cabinet to do so. I therefore repeat the questions and await proper answers.
Response:
I have made enquiries and can advise the information you are seeking is not recorded anywhere. The Freedom of Information Act provides public access to any recorded information that is held by a public authority. Recorded information includes printed documents, computer files, letters, emails, photographs and sound or video recordings. Information only has to be provided if it is already in recorded form, there is no requirement to create new recorded information or find the answer to a question from a member of staff who may happen to know it. In light of the above I must conclude that the original response sent to you is correct.